


sticks and stones

by the_problem_with_stardust



Series: Laura Hale Appreciation [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alpha Laura Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Kinda, Laura-centric, M/M, POV Laura, POV Laura Hale, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-05 21:53:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12198114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_problem_with_stardust/pseuds/the_problem_with_stardust
Summary: “-that's Derek Hale!”“I heard he murdered someone.”“-said it was drugs.”“No, he set the Hale house on fire-”“-killed his entire family-”Written for Laura Hale Appreciation Week Day 1: Laura didn’t die





	sticks and stones

The Camaro stands out amongst the minivans and SUVs lined up in front of Beacon Hills High. Laura lets the motor idle, the smells of burning fuel and overheated asphalt permeating the air. She knows that today was a bad day, can feel it through her only pack bond. Derek is miserable and it is her fault he’s here.

She had managed to withstand the pull to her territory since the fire, but even after four years it only kept getting stronger. The feeling grew until it reached the point where she couldn't sleep, couldn't focus, could barely keep the wolf under her skin. Derek had been the one to suggest returning to Beacon Hills, so they packed up their meager belongings and moved across the country.

But now she wishes she had fought to stay in New York instead of dragging her baby brother back to this hell-hole. Upon arriving, they decided he should try to interact with people closer to his own age by finishing high school. Derek hadn't re-enrolled after the fire and was still technically at a freshman level. However, he had taken enough advanced classes that the principle allowed him to enter as a junior.

The sound of the bell echoes through the empty halls of the school and the scrape of chairs and thundering of feet are loud, even over the idling cars. Laura leans her head back against the seat and waits.

She hears the whispers before she sees him.

“-that's Derek Hale!”

“I heard he murdered someone.”

“-said it was drugs.”

“No, he set the Hale house on fire-”

“-killed his entire family-”

Laura can feel the claws itching at her skin. She glares at the hordes of students flooding out of the school, desperate to rip every single gossip apart. Then Derek stalks out the doors, looking unaware of what the other students are saying about him. His blank expression breaks Laura’s heart.

He tosses his bag in the back and collapses into the passenger seat. Every line of his body screams exhaustion and he smells miserable. It’s an assault on her senses, bringing both her Alpha and big sister instincts to the surface.

“Hey. How are you doing?”

“Fine.” Even though it's only one syllable - more of a grunt than a word - Laura can hear the lie in his heartbeat.

“Der…” Laura trails off. She has no idea what to do. For the thousandth time, she wishes her mother was there. Before she can come up with anything, the minivan behind them lays on the horn.

Wincing at the noise, she throws the Camaro into drive. “Fuck you too, soccer mom.”

The ride to the apartment is silent. After pulling into their assigned parking spot, Laura turns to her brother.

“You never have to go to school. Okay? We can find other options. There’s the GED and online classes. You don’t have to go back there if you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine, Laura.” Derek doesn't look up from his hands resting on his thighs, fingers curled into white knuckled fists.

She sighs, running a hand over her face and feeling so much older than twenty-three. “You don’t deserve that kind of treatment, Derek. I could hear them.”

“Well, they weren’t wrong.” Derek slams out of the car, leaving his bag in his hurry to get away.

Laura lets him go. She drops her head to the steering wheel and tries to block out his raging emotions. They were doing so well in New York. Derek had finally started to put away some of his guilt. She thought he was healing, getting better after everything the fire and Kate had done to him. She knows she’ll never get her cheerful baby brother back, but she hates how unhappy he is.

\---

When Laura shuffles into the kitchen the next morning, Derek is already sitting at the table dressed for school. He had come in from his wanderings so late last night it was practically morning. Laura doubts he slept at all.

“Are you sure?”

He nods, a violent jerk of the head, waiting for her to protest. Laura doesn’t engage him, just straightens the sleeves of her blazer and grabs her keys.

They drive to school in silence; she catches his arm before he can get out. He looks at her, eyes hard, ready to argue. She just slides her hand up to the back of his neck, a ghost of what their mother used to do. “Your pack’s got your back.”

“Love you, Lo.” He has that fragile look on his face that makes her want to tear Kate Argent limb from limb even more than she normally does.

“Love you too.” She squeezes once, then drops her hand, eyes misty. “Call me if you need anything.”

She watches him walk through the doors, shoulders squared. When she can no longer distinguish his heartbeat from all of the other noises, she takes a deep breath and gives herself a mental shake. She has shit to do today.

Her first stop is the Beacon Beanery. She orders an espresso and asks for an application. The man behind the counter looks vaguely familiar, but it isn't until he hands over the paper that she remembers graduating together. He offers his condolences and is helpful enough to make a list of everyone around town who's hiring. Laura is grateful for the assistance, but desperately wishes Beacon Hills was larger.

She spends the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon visiting the places on the list. As she expected, most of the town knew her family. It’s a tiring day and leaves her feeling raw and unsettled. She's so tangled up in her own memories that she gets caught off guard when she pulls up in front of the school.

Derek feels okay. Not necessarily happy. Lord knows her brother hasn’t felt happy in half a decade. But he isn’t exuding gloom and doom through the pack bond. He walks out the doors, same as yesterday and this time, no one says a word. If anything the silence is more telling than an explanation.

Derek slings his bag into the back. He still looks exhausted when he settles into his seat, but it's probably due to lack of sleep instead of dealing with soul crushing rumors all day. The sense of overwhelming misery is gone.

Laura glances at him out of the corner of her eye, almost afraid he'll disappear if she looks full on. “How was school?”

“Fine.” This time his heart doesn’t skip. She’s definitely surprised but doesn’t push it.

It isn’t until they’re eating dinner that Derek breaks the quiet. Only having the two of them around is so different from when they were living in the pack house. She misses the days when it was too noisy and everyone was constantly getting in the way of each other.

He nudges her foot under the table. “What did you do today?”

Laura blinks away the ghosts, focusing back on their tiny kitchen. “I put in some applications. Figure I shouldn’t just be sitting around all day.” Or running the territory obsessively. Something called her here and she hasn’t found it yet.

Derek nods, setting down his slice of pizza. Laura can’t cook at all. It used to be a family joke, but now, trying to support herself and her brother, it isn’t so funny. She feels the familiar twinge of failure, wishing she could take care of him better, knowing she can barely take care of herself. It’s been four years, but she hasn’t gotten the hang of being an adult.

Derek’s head snaps up. They’d come to an agreement to not hide things from each other, so she knows he felt her emotions take a negative turn. She forces a smile.

“How are your classes?”

Derek is still watching her with concern, but he humors the request. “Fine.”

She rolls her eyes. It’s a familiar argument. She’d bought him a thesaurus for Christmas last year so he could expand his vocabulary beyond ‘fine.’ It was a joke and had actually earned her a rare smile.

His hands still where he was picking off bits of pizza crust. “History is boring, but Ms. Patterson is nice. She didn’t make me introduce myself to the class.”

Laura thinks back to her time at BHHS. “I don’t remember her.”

“She’s new.”

“Is Harris still there? I hated him.” She frowns at the memory. Some people shouldn't be allowed to teach.

Derek hesitates. “He’s there.” His scent takes a slightly sour note.

Laura stiffens, protective instincts shifting to overdrive. “Did he say anything to you? I can get you moved to another class.”

Derek shakes his head. “I don’t think he’s going to be a problem anymore.”

Laura stares. “What?” Derek wasn’t confrontational. At all.

“He talked about accelerants. And the most common ways to start house fires. He used… examples.” The broken look in Derek’s eyes tells her exactly which ‘examples’ he had used.

“Oh my god. What the hell is wrong with him?” Laura fumes. “I’m taking you out of that man’s class.”

Derek blinks a few times, then says, “Some kid shut him down. Talked about the legal consequences of slander and how he could get fired if someone went to the principle and the school board. He got detention, but I don’t think Harris will bring it up again.”

“That was nice of him.” Laura manages, still floored by how cruel people could be.

“Yeah.” Derek smiles as he picks up his pizza again.

It is his soft smile, saved for reminiscing about their younger siblings and the few times he's talked about his favorite books. Laura doesn’t know what to make of it.

\---

The next day, Derek seems almost excited to go to school. Laura drops him off, then goes to check on her applications. When she gets to Beacon Beanery, the same man is behind the counter. He smiles brightly when she walks in and she wishes she could remember his name.

“Any luck with the job hunting?”

It's only been a day, but his optimism is contagious. “Hopefully I'll hear back soon.”

“Word on the street is that the Sheriff is looking for a new dispatcher.” He hands her a cup, the tantalizing smell already working its way through the room. “And he's hiring immediately.”

She reaches for her wallet, but he waves her off with another dazzling grin. Was this flirting? Even with enhanced senses she can never tell.

“Thank you.” She returns his smile. Was it something Mahealani? She thinks he had a younger brother who was friends with Cora.

Coffee in hand, she decides to make a visit to the Sheriff’s office. The man at the desk accepts her resume and asks her to sit tight for a moment. Bemused, she takes a seat in the waiting area. Before she can wonder for long, John Stilinski walks out of the back room wearing the sheriff’s star.

“Laura, it's good to see you.” Mr. John was a good friend of her mother’s. She returns his handshake with a warmth she hasn’t felt in a while. “Are you all moved in?”

“Yes we are. We didn't have much.” They had only taken what fit in the trunk of the Camaro. She is still sleeping on the apartment floor, but at least she has a mattress now.

The sheriff looks at her like he knows exactly what she’s thinking. “Well, let me know if you need help with anything.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He leads her back to his office. “So I heard you came in about the dispatch job?”

“Yeah, someone at the coffee shop said you were hiring.” Laura sits down across the desk, wondering if she’s in an interview.

The sheriff moves a stack of files away from his keyboard. “Oh, Joshua?”

“Yeah, Josh.” That was his name, she remembers now. He sat two seats in front of her during physics.

They chat for a bit and Laura finds herself talking about her plans to rebuild the house. The sheriff seems happy to offer advice and even scribbles down a list of contractors. It comes as a shock when Laura glances at the clock and almost half an hour’s past.

“I have to go pick up Derek from school.”

The sheriff gets to his feet. “Will tomorrow at 11 work for a formal interview?”

Laura nods. “That would be perfect.”

“Well then,” the sheriff holds out a hand to shake. “It will take some on the job training, but you are definitely on the short list of candidates.”

“Thank you so much for all of your advice.” She has the list of contractors in her pocket and a fully formed plan in her head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“And Laura?”

She turns back. The sheriff has a pinched expression on his face.

“You can come to me if Derek has any more trouble in class.” Laura frowns, wondering what he could possibly be talking about. The sheriff must pick up on her confusion because he continues, “My son is in the same chemistry class. I know your brother is technically an adult, but I'd be willing to go with you to file a complaint. Their teacher was way out of line.”

Laura suddenly knows who stood up for Derek. “Oh no, he’s the one who got detention? I’m so sorry.”

The sheriff huffs a laugh. “Stiles can get himself into trouble without any help.” He shakes his head, expression going serious again. “Derek was always a good kid and I’d be more than happy to use my influence to keep his high school experience enjoyable.”

Laura nods. “I will probably take you up on that.”

“Good. Let me know when and where.”

This time, Laura goes in for a hug.

\---

Stiles Stilinski is nothing like Laura expected. He threw open the door in a flurry of limbs, all concentrated energy and big brown eyes. The sheriff had invited Laura and Derek over for dinner as a sort of celebration. Laura had been trained as a dispatcher, Derek had been removed from Harris’ class, and the skeleton of the old house was now in a landfill.

It was a crazy couple of weeks, but Laura is happier than she’s been in a long time. They heated up a frozen lasagna and some garlic bread, which didn’t stand a chance against two werewolves and a seventeen year old. Now, Stiles is chattering on about baseball as he clears off the table. Derek is helping him with a shy smile, occasionally butting into the younger boy’s monologue and making him laugh.

Laura and the Sheriff exchange a _look_ over the soapy dishes that reminds her of conspiring with her dad when she was little. The memory hits like a shot to the gut.

Luckily, Stiles chooses that moment to make a joke and Derek actually laughs. Laura jerks away from where she was drying dishes, her werewolf reflexes the only thing keeping her from dropping the plate in her hand. This was the first time she’s heard her brother laugh like that since before the fire.

The last dish is going in the rack when the doorbell rings. Another kid about Stiles’ age is standing on the porch. Laura looks over at Derek, instincts immediately on edge. The stranger smells like wolf.

“Scotty!” Stiles yells. “I missed you today.”

The kid lights up. “Hey, man. I just came by to pick up my homework.”

“Yeah, dude. Let me go get it.” Stiles sprints up the stairs, still carrying on the conversation. “Did your mom let you skip?”

“Nah, I was out walking last night and I swear I got bit by this huge dog. But I woke up this morning and the bite was gone.”

“That is super weird.” Stiles thunders back down the stairs, homework in hand. “Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”

“I dunno. I felt a little weird so Mom let me stay home.”

Eyebrows raised, Laura turns to Derek. He shrugs and Laura huffs. They go back and forth a few more times, until Laura gives a decisive nod. She’s the alpha. This kid is her responsibility now. When she looks up, the sheriff is watching them.

“Is it drugs?” he asks. “Because if you two know anything, it’s better to come clean now.”

Laura can feel a hysterical laugh working its way up her throat. “I wish it was as easy as drugs.”

“Just tell them.” Derek bites out.

This is going to go terribly, but she tries anyway. “We’re werewolves. It sounds like your friend was bitten by a rogue alpha.”

Scott laughs and the Sheriff looks disappointed. But Stiles snaps his fingers,  like everything makes so much more sense.

“That’s why you flinch when someone sneezes and make faces when Jackson walks by and smells like an Axe bomb.”

Derek nods.

Stiles launches into a stream of excited questions. “So can you turn into an actual wolf? Or is it more like the Harry Potter thing? Because let me tell you, I had nightmares for weeks after the third movie…”

The sheriff holds up a hand. “Now wait a minute, you can’t possibly expect me to believe – ”

His words die out when Laura lets her eyes bleed red, fangs lengthening, claws extended. He goes for his hip – grasping at empty air – then freezes. “I’m sorry.”

After a minute, Scott breaks the tense silence. “So, I’m a werewolf?”

Laura sighs. “Let’s take this somewhere more comfortable.” She has a feeling it’s going to be a long night of explanations.

\---

A quiet buzz drags Laura out of her semi-conscious state. She reaches for her phone, careful not to disturb the sleeping bodies surrounding her. Scott shifts where he’s curled up nearby, tucking his feet more securely under her leg.

Blinking against the sudden light, she clicks on the two unread messages from the sheriff. The first reads: _on my way home_ , closely followed by: _I’ll bring take-out_.

Laura smiles, dropping her phone back to the floor. Derek’s head is pillowed on her stomach and she runs a hand through her brother’s spiky hair. Stiles is flopped over Derek, face pressed into his shoulder and squashing him into the mattress. Not that Derek seems to mind. He has his arms wrapped tight around the other kid, their breathing soft and even.

The last week had been rough on everyone. For a man who just found out about werewolves, the Sheriff took to the supernatural world with ease. After a day he worked out a pattern to the mystery killings. From there, they devised a plan. She would put down the alpha and the Sheriff would come along as back up. They kept the plan a secret from the kids she was starting to think of as pack, which of course meant that Stiles, Derek, and Scott just happened to be in the woods at the same time.

While she wasn’t surprised they’d decided to come along, she was shocked when the feral alpha melted back to reveal the face of her comatose uncle. She killed one of her last surviving family members. But after seeing the case files, she couldn’t bring herself to feel bad. That twisted monster wasn't her uncle anymore.

They left the Sheriff at the scene to call in another ‘mountain lion attack’ and Stiles drove them back to the house to shower. When Laura finally emerged from the bathroom, she found the three boys already curled up on mattresses they dragged from Stiles’ room and the guestroom.

She knows the grief will probably hit her later, but for now she feels settled for the first time since the fire. Her lands are no longer contested and she is at peace with her wolf. The sound of steady heartbeats lull her toward the edge of sleep.

It’s calming. It feels like pack.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hello on [tumblr!](https://theproblemwithstardust.tumblr.com)


End file.
